has identified 10 to 20 key al qaeda leaders whom he says are in pakistan, yemen and other areas. >>> al qaeda is making a comeback in afghanistan. u.s. commanders are seeing a sudden resurgence just as american troops are getting ready to leave. cnn's nick payton walsh joined an army patrol on the hunt. >> reporter: almost a decade in the hunt for al qaeda in one part of eastern afghanistan looks like this. americans pushing the afghans to the front, taking the high ground in hills impossible to police. the pressure for less americans here is extreme, but the afghans only mustered five men for this patrol. >> it has to be five to seven round bursts and go. >> reporter: and despite this training, policing the local villages, let alone taking on the terrorist network that america came here to eradicate. it is here that afghanistan's future looks like its past. american control does not extend up to this valley and high on the ridgelines, they found safe havens for al qaeda. they have revealed to cnn they located here al qaeda fighters using the secluded alpine villages for training and